Established in 1873, by settler T. A. Burns, the town was an ideal
location since the Weatherford - Stephenville road and the Granbury-Palo
Pinto road intersected here. Burns named the town after the Lipan
Apaches, who had hunted in the area not too many years before. A post
office was granted in 1875.

The population for the 1900 Census was a respectable 286 citizens,
but by 1936 it had only added fourteen more people.

Lipan managed to increase its population through both the Great Depression
and World War II
- but not by much. There were 350 people in the late 40s and nearly
400 in the late 60s.

It had
increased to just over 500 in the late 80s and the current (2005)
population is listed as 425 according to the state map.